The club offered Phillips a contract, but he initially refused to sign as he was earning more money as a gardener in Tunstall.

[1] After making his debut against Watford in March 1954, Phillips spent the 1955–56 season on loan to Stowmarket.

[4] In 1962, a report in the East Anglian Daily Times said of Phillips: "It is an undisputed fact that he is the best kicker of a dead ball in the game."

After leaving Ipswich in 1964, Phillips played for Luton Town, Leyton Orient and Colchester United.

After leaving Colchester at the end of the 1965–66 season, he moved to Malta to become player/manager of Floriana, a club he had played against during Ipswich's 1962–63 European Cup campaign, scoring four goals in the two legs.